While iLife and iWork come stocked with powerful applications that are easy to use, sometimes it seems sort of pointless to install an application like GarageBand if you've absolutely no interest in editing audio, or iMovie if you don't usually take video. Fortunately, several MacRumors readers have pointed out that Apple's promotional materials for the upcoming Mac App Store hint that it'll be possible to buy each of the applications in the iLife and iWork suite individually.

Amazon Germany, according to 9to5 Mac, has leaked details about Apple's next version of iLife (presumed to be iLife '11). The store listed the ship date in a popup box in the store sidebar, noting that it would ship on October 20th, which is the same day as the Back to the Mac event that Apple is holding.

News travels fast, and by now it should be painfully obvious that Apple is hosting a media event next Wednesday, October 20 at the Cupertino campus, what with all of the rumors circulating on various technology blogs, ours included. The company’s invite touts “Back to the Mac” with the image of a lion peeking out from behind the infamous Apple logo, but what does it all mean?

No one but Steve Jobs and Company knows for sure just yet, but the focus is clearly back on the desktop computer, most likely a first peek at the next Mac OS X 10.7, which many believe will be code-named “Lion” in keeping with the “big cat” theme of past OS updates. We put on our thinking cap and came up with some theories as to what software Apple might have in store for our future.

We really expected a refreshed version of iLife to show up at last Wednesday’s media event, even though announcements were flying fast and furious as it was. If a new product listing on Amazon.com is to be believed, maybe we won’t have to wait much longer.

Prior to 2007, Apple was releasing iLife updates annually at Macworld, but they seem to have pushed that back to every year and a half since then. That means it’s about time to cue those iLife ’11 rumors, which could be available in less than two weeks.

You've been asking, and though we don't have an answer for you just yet, we can confirm that there are rumors around the internet suggesting that there may be an iLife and iWork update come September and October. Users searching through Amazon France have discovered that there's a title for iLife '10. The book is supposed to launch on September 23rd.

We're not entirely sure how we feel about these leaked screenshots of iWork for the iPhone. On one hand, we'd be able to be super productive while protectively clutching our phones on the bus ride to work. On the other hand, we'd never be able to put work down. Regardless, the idea of Pages running on an iPod touch brings a smile to our face. There are rumors that the app is currently beta testing, though how close we are to an actual release of iWork is not exactly known.

Without even a beta application to demo, Microsoft is already touting its Windows Live Essentials software to technology consumers around the globe. Last Wednesday, the software behemoth revealed its new applications suite and what was coming over to WindowsLivePreview.com.

Apple released new
downloads today to upgrade various aspects of iLife 09 in what
some are dubbing the iLife '10 update. There are updates for RAW
format compatibility with several cameras, as well as system
improvements affecting Aperture 03 and iPhoto 09 to improve slideshow
support and integration with the Media Browser.